Is this the spot to ask Mike a question during the course? I’m wondering … what about ads on a site. My guess is that Mike counsels waaaay against running adsense on a site, but how about, say, a link to buy a book?

Great Webinar today, lots of wonderful information.  Simple question for Mike… What is better, to have the blog as part of our website or a stand alone blog?

@roadturn

Hey Don,

About ads on your blog…

I advise a very limited use of ads on your blog.  In the beginning none.  Over time you can add a few in there.  If you take a look at our blog, you will see one ad.  They should be on the sidebar.  Ideally they are for something free so it does not look like an ad.

@loripatterson

Lori,

Great question about whether the blog should be integrated into your company site or stand alone. 

I will address it later in one of the sessions.

But the quick answer is it depends on your goals.  There is a lot of search benefits to having it be on the main website.  However if you want it to develop its own brand it may make sense to separate it (like the workshifting example I showed you).

@bridalletter

Ideally you own your own community.  If you get leads it does not mean that folks have agreed to be part of receiving regular updates.

I think it would be best to have your own blog, but do not fully understand your question.

Michael, A great beginning to this conference today.  Ideas were concrete and “big” ideas as well.  Love that blend.  Unless I miss my guess, the “homework” part of this first day is critical to making use of the rest of the sessions, no?  Since I could see myself hemming and hawwing about answering these questions with the precision and insight that is required, I wonder if you have content on this club or elsewhere on social media examiner that might help guide us through being too general and get the “conceptual” part of what we want to accomplish down before the second session begins?  Is this the longest sentence ever? Yikes.

@mike-stelzner  thank you for your quick response Mike about on or off site blog.  i look forward to attending the rest of this workshop!  Have a great day!

@pbcsky

Pat, don’t over analyze it.  Just simply answer the questions to best of your ability and for yourself, fully knowing they may evolve as your go through the other sessions

@mike-stelzner

The tough part of “What problem do people need solved?” is (other than the overwhelming number of possible problems) I don’t have a solution to every situation. For instance, you shouldn’t call me if you need a house painted–but if you are a painter who needs to find work, then I can hook you up. Where does focus enter the picture?

Hi Michael,
Thanks for sharing your insights and experience in the first session today.
First, I’d like to apologize in advance for this long note but I’d like to provide some context so thanks for your patience.

After losing my TV reporter job to the recession some years back, I wanted to start a blog for quite some time but struggled to identify a focus.

I am now reinventing my career. I have been using my digital video journalism skills to explore other career opportunities in social media.
As a social media content producer, I produce multimedia content for a YMCA’s Facebook page.
It’s a new position I created and trying to get the Y on board on the benefits of social media marketing. This has been a big challenge.
There are so many health related stories that I’d love to video blog about but the Y does not have a working website. Do you recommend I start one on say Blogger or is there a different platform I should consider?

You said “your blog must support your business.” 
I don’t have a business.
BUT I sometimes take on freelance projects to help non-profits document their causes by producing videos.
AND I do have a website (www.furhanaafrid.com).
 
I have a strong passion to make a difference in peoples’ lives through storytelling and that is why I gravitate towards causes.
So I’d like to start my own blog to
1. share my experience in creating compelling visual content through storytelling.
2. attract employment opportunities at a cause oriented group, non-profit or foundation like the Gates Foundation or the Clinton Global Initiative, Water.org etc.

I’ve been struggling with 2 ideas:
1. Blog about my career transition to another industry i.e. social media and non-profits.
Audience: Journalists looking to transition to other industries, unemployed or laid off journalists.
2. Blog about producing compelling visual stories for non-profits/foundations/causes.
Audience: Cause oriented groups, non-profits/foundations.

You talked about how important it is to find that NARROW FOCUS.

Appreciate your insights on this.
Many thanks.
Furhana

Thanks for giving me some direction Mike.
Here’s a follow up question:
1. Is there a particular blogging platform you recommend so that the blog content is easily transferable to a future Y website? There are so many out there: Blogger, Tumblr, Wordpress etc.

Thanks again!
@furhanaafrid

@sherineclarke

That’s a great idea! I will have to research that a little more.

We have established relationships with many farmers in the area (and by area I mean within 30 miles of our stores) and they are very very shy about being on camera. I should tell you we are a Lancaster County based organization so some of our farmers are Amish or Mennonite and have no problem with us taking pictures of the farm or the product but prefer to be out of the spotlight. 

However, we do have a larger homegrown campaign that we have with our Buyer. See it here: http://www.skh.com/dishcategories/homegrown/
 I’d love to hear more of your thoughts on how we can make that initiative successful with our community and young families.

@bridalletter you earlier ask if the leads you get from various sources constitute a community. Am I understanding that correctly?If so I would say likely not. But it is a start! A community is a living breathing thing. It requires interaction. Community online is constituted of individuals who interact with each other in a common setting. That is a very broad description as opinions will vary from one expert to the next (which I am not). If you want to build community focus in on your blog engage your readers with thought out relevant content and it will happen. So focus on turnung your leads into readers.

@auragarrillo

Hi Aura,

A few things:

1. About marketing on your blog: I will do address how to do this the right way in great detail in my book Launch.  Just remember what Mike Volpe from HubSpot said, it’s about a drop or two for every gallon of content .

2. About keeping your blog integrated with your company: I suggest in your case you check out Jay Baer at Convinceandconvert.com — he does integrate the two together with great success for his practice.

3. Bilingual blog: This one is frankly outside my knowledge base. But this may answer/help http://www.socialmediaexaminer.com/clubs/blogging/forum/topic/blog-language-and-audience/

@astalvey

I would take a look at River Pools and Spas (Marcus Sheridan) as they have a very limited geographic region they service as well.

The same things apply whether you are targeting national, global or hyper-local.  You want content that will resonate with your ideal audience.

Will your content get picked up by people outside your market, for sure.  Is that bad, heck no?  Content does the work for you, not you.  So you simply create great content that mostly appeals to your local market–FULLY accepting the fact that no one out there necessarily wanting to purchase your massage services.

Your case is no different than a local restaurant that is showcasing how to create great cakes or a local supermarket training people on how to shop for fruit.

The actual launch and promotion segments of the course will give you a lot more guidance…

@auragarrillo

Aura – It is available on Kindle, iTunes, etc and is also a book you can get on Amazon.  Simply search for Launch (or my name)

Hey, Michael,

I’m busy doing my homework but I just saw Wes Andersen’s new movie, “Moonrise Kingdom”. A wonder-full movie.  But, It’s about a scouting troup. Um. I think you better see it and then reconsider naming us “scouts” and you, our Leader.  Edward Norton and Harvey Keitel were the scout leaders.  Harvey’s character I believe loved the smell of napalm in the morning. 

@astalve

You said, “we saw its purpose as a means of allowing us to expand / expound on things we offer at our massage clinic for those who drop by the site to find out more about what we offer as they shop around for a massage therapist.”

That is product marketing.  That should be on your pages that describe your products and services, NOT on your blog.

And let’s be honest, why would anyone want to share an article about how you do massage?  That content is simply marketing.

You need to ask your customers what they are most interested in learning more about related to this industry.  Ask them, don’t guess.

Having said all of this, please give chew on this until we get to the content creation session and you will have a ton more ideas.

@mike-stelzner @kimberlycarlo
Thank you for your responses to my customer identification questions. It is a topic I have been wrestling with for some time. My desire is to fine-tune my grip on what I do best (right now, I feel a bit overstretched in too many directions) and who most needs what I do best.

Your remarks prompt me to take a look from a different angle: Who do I most want to speak with (given my particular gifts, knowledge and skills) … who am I “assigned to”? And how are they segmented? Are they a particular age, a particular profession? Are they in a particular situation? And what do they want/need?

Mike said it like this:

1. Who do I want to reach?
2. What do they most want?  

You said any marketing messages, “should be on your [Massage TLC web] pages that describe your products and services, NOT on your blog.” You then said, “You need to ask your customers what they are most interested in learning more about related to this industry.“

With your background (where focusing on gaining readers is key) I understand your passion, Michael, for keeping anything called a blog as a pure and sacred place that is totally safe from any “marketing speak.”

If we are not trying to attract readers (like most blogs are), but are simply using the blog format (which in this case is simpy a different format of web pages) as a simple means of easily providing expanded information on our products and services–are we committing a gross error?

If most of our clients land on our website by searching on “Massage city-name” and then peek at the blog to learn a bit more about what we offer, is it OK to use a “blog” for this purpose, or do you feel visitors will balk at the fact we’ve chosen a blog format to expound on the value we offer?

PLEASE NOTE: I fully understand where you’re coming from when it comes to attracting a large “following” for a standard blog. I am totally in the boat with you on that, and love the fact you’re making that point LOUD AND CLEAR  

However, with the Massage TLC (integrated) blog gaining a large following of readers is not our goal. That WILL be our goal with the separate, non-integrated, “Healthy Living” blog we have not yet launched, and that blog WILL NOT contain marketing messages because we do want to gain a large number of “readers.”

In the end, we do not expect to have any “subscribers” to the Massage TLC blog. We simply expect some of our site visitors will check out the “blog” to learn more about us, since it is integrated with our site. I am hoping that’s “OK,” and will not be a major turn-off for visitors to our website just because that section of our site is using a blog format.

Thanks again!

Allen

@astalvey

Hey Allen,

You need to ask yourself, what is the connection to your business.  If it is only to sell, then why would anyone ever read the content on the blog.  Blogs are really NOT sales pages.  They are publications, regardless of the intent (grow a list, etc.).

I would ask you to consider this, when you visit any website, do you click on the blog with the intent to learn more about what the business has to offer, or do you click on a brochure, a paper, commonly asked questions, what makes us different, etc.

Instead, you click on a blog to learn about the culture and ethos of a business.  Are they sharing success stories of happy customers?  Are they showcasing knowledge that helps me see they are pros?

If it were me, and I was in your head, thinking about what you want, it sounds like you want more information to help people make a buying decision.  That CAN work for a blog (again take a look at Marcus Sheridan).

So hold on tight and be patient as I unfold the many options you will have in future sessions, okay?  Sound fair?

@astalvey

Check these out:

http://massage.largeheartedboy.com/
http://www.massage-therapy-blog.com/
http://www.massagetherapyprograms.net/featured/top-50-massage-blogs/

@marisa-shadrick

Yes for sure.  That comes in sessions 3 and 5

@astalvey I think I understand the concept of not using the blog to sell or advertise anything that @mike-stelzner is explaining.

Customers are clicking on the blog to see what you have to say and educate them or inform them…if they are intrested in your product after seeing your a caring company and want to do business with you they can then click on the remainder of your website to purchase your products.

I know as a consumer who is not “computer” friendly and does not have a marketing background if I want to purchase an item i will google it and find it there….not through a blog.  Those with the ad/marketing background I feel sometimes have a different mindset. 

When I read a blog I want it to be something I enjoy reading…NOT a sales man sitting on my front porch I can not rid my self from

Cant wait to learn more today!

Thank you, Lori and Sabina for your excellent insights. The more I learn, the more I realize how little I know (about most any subject). I also believe that with most things there is no “one right way,” however, there are certainly “better ways” to do most things–and with your, Michael’s, and others’ assistance I’m sure we’ll figure out a “better way” to blog than we have been.

Our blog is very new, with less than 20 posts–and I don’t believe anyone has subscribed yet–so we can easily do a re-start.

I’m happy to be on this journey with each of you.

Allen

Are there any guidelines as to whether it’s better to design your blog with posts vs. pages?

That’s a great way to look at it, Michael.  I thought I had to choose one or the other, but this makes more sense.  Hopefully, people will check back in to read the “newsy” posts, but refer to the more permanent information on the pages.  Thanks for helping me to see the value of both!

@terryretter

Terry – Stand by for sessions 4 and 5 that will focus on marketing and promotion.